The government was already conducting a review of how it deals with hostage situations following similar complaints from the families of James Foley and Kayla Mueller, who were killed last year in Syria.

“These families are in a terrible situation. It’s unthinkable to imagine what it would be like to have a loved one, a family member, being held against their will by a terrorist organization,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Friday. “So there is a premium on clear, direct, specific, regular, reliable communication with these families, and that can be difficult when you have a wide range of agencies that are involved in those conversations.”

Those agencies can include the the CIA, FBI, the State Department, the Defense Department and the White House.